Snowstorm blankets northeast Texas Panhandle

A woman walks through Central Riverside Park on a snowy Wednesday morning in Wichita, Kan., Feb. 20, 2013. Hundreds of snow plows and salt spreaders took to the highways of the nation's heartland Wednesday, preparing for a winter storm that could dump up to a foot of snow in some regions and bring dangerous freezing rain and sleet to others.

Michael Schumacher / Amarillo Globe-News Snowfall created a winter scene in Amarillo Thursday, February 21, 2013. An overnight storm blanket Amarillo with about an inch of snow. Snow piles near the entrance to Don Harrington Discover Center.

Michael Schumacher / Amarillo Globe-News Snowfall created a winter scene in Amarillo Thursday, February 21, 2013. An overnight storm blanket Amarillo with about an inch of snow. Snow piles on a cactus near the Botanical Gardens.

Meteorologists are expecting no more snow from the latest winter storm to hit the Texas Panhandle.

National Weather Service Amarillo meteorologist John Cockrell said there would be no more snow with the storm and the winter storm warning and advisory for the region have been cancelled.

The snowstorm dumped nearly 8 inches of snow across the northeastern Texas Panhandle on Wednesday night and into Thursday, while Amarillo saw between 1 and 1.5 inches, according to the weather service.

NWS reported 1.5 inches of snow had fallen seven miles east-northeast of Amarillo in Potter County, and an inch had fallen six miles southwest of Amarillo in Randall County.

Workers at one Amarillo homeless shelter said the facility was not as crowded as it was last winter.

Faith City Ministries worker Mark Crues said 40 people stayed the night Wednesday.

“We were not even close to packed,” he said. “We had a couple of bad nights, but we didn’t have that many people. That surprised me. Last winter we had so many people we had to clear the chapel and put mats down. We haven’t done that yet.”

He said the chapel stays open all day when the weather drops to 38 degrees or below.

A winter storm warning originally was in effect until 6 p.m. for the Oklahoma Panhandle and northeast Texas Panhandle. Several school districts canceled classes while others delayed them.

Other areas of the nation were bracing for the storm as it moved northeast Thursday.

An armada of snow plows and salt spreaders deployed Wednesday on highways across the heartland working to stay ahead of the storm.

Winter storm warnings were issued through Illinois, with as much as a foot of snow expected in several areas.

Kelly Sugden, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Dodge City, Kan., said the storm was moving a bit slower than was previously forecast but that it was “starting to get back together.”

Much of Kansas was expected to get up to a foot of snow, which many rural residents welcomed after a year of drought.

Officials feared the winter storm would be the worst in the Midwest since the Groundhog Day 2011 blizzard, blamed for about two dozen deaths and which left hundreds of thousands without power, some for several days.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: National Weather Service

Snowfall totals

■ Allison: 7 inches

■ Booker: 3 inches

■ Borger: 0.2 of an inch; 1.8 inches two miles southwest of Borger

■ Canadian: 4 inches

■ Clarendon: 4.1 inches

■ Claude: 3 inches

■ Dalhart: 4.5 inches one mile northwest of Dalhart, 2.5 inches one mile north of Dalhart, 1.8 inches four miles east of Dalhart